Google’s $1 billion HQ in London is the future of infrastructure

If this was Monopoly, Google just won

Google’s latest reveal proves that it isn’t enough for them to own the Internet but they need to take over the world with more tangible assets as well. At 11 storeys high, the new Google HQ is as solid as it gets. Located in Central London, the structure is said to be as long as the Shard is tall. Housing an Olympic-sized swimming pool, massage rooms, a rooftop garden with a running track and a gym, the building is being dubbed as a ‘landscraper’. Honestly, it’s a small ecosystem where 7000 of Google’s employees can be grateful that they don’t work anywhere else.

Google already has an offices in the area with plans to move their current Soho headquarters, spanning 1,60,000 square feet, into the vicinity. This new 92,000 square metre “landscraper” ties them all in completing the plans for a tech campus converging at King’s Cross. If this was a game of Monopoly, Google has just scored all the blue properties and is now putting down one of those tiny plastic ‘hotels’. The new HQ will overlook King’s Cross station and cost $1 Billion ( roughly ₹6400 crore).

The building has been designed to be made from a family of interchangeable elements which ensure that the building and its workspace will stay flexible for years to come. The plan shows space for 686 bikes, with just four car parking spaces in a bid to boost sustainability as well as solar panels on the roof that will create a combined annual output of 200MWh.

If it gets approved by the Camden Council, it’s going to be the first building outside of United States for the tech company to entirely own and design. Construction on the project will start in 2018. Next to the Shard, the Gherkin and Big Ben the new Google HQ will possibly be the next iconic structure added to London’s skyline.